


Enkindled

by AstralNova



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Humor, Humour, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2671907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstralNova/pseuds/AstralNova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many years after the Reaper wars, an archaeological vessel finds two entwined bodies floating in space. Who are these mysterious people, and how did they end up there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enkindled

“Captain, the sensors are picking something up”  
“What is it this time, Lieutenant? If it's another bit of thousand-year-old fuel waste-”  
“No sir, it's inert. But Captain, it seems organic!” Captain Sullivan's eyes widened. To find organic matter just floating around this far from any inhabitable world was astounding.   
“Any debris, Adams?”  
“No, sir. Just a small mass of organic matter, looks to be about six feet long and four feet wide.”  
“A person? Any life signs?”  
“No heat signature. No electronic readings. It might have been out there for years, sir.”  
“Well get it on board so we can examine it! This is exactly the kind of find we set out for!”   
Lieutenant Adams opened the trawling-hatch and sucked the object into the T'Soni's bow. It had been weeks since they'd found anything worthwhile. This area of the galaxy was archaeologically barren for the most part. That was why Sullivan had insisted on starting here. “If we can find something here,” he said “we can find something anywhere.” They had left the Citadel with one mission: to trawl space in the name of accurate history. Theirs was the only ship of its kind, a Basking Shark Class RN-4, designed to pick up debris from ancient battlefields to better understand those who fought and died so that they could live in the world they did. Sullivan's dream was that all heroes, no matter how long-dead, were to be remembered, and their lives treated as sacred. His father had founded a museum with the same goal on the Citadel forty years ago, and to the captain this was the nobles dream a man could have.  
The trawling-hatch closed. Robotic arms collected the object and placed it in an airlock, where it was re-pressurised and immediately taken to the medical bay. 

“What have you found, Doctor?”   
“Excited: Well, Captain, if the instruments are to be believed, it appears to be a human and a prothean entangled in one another.”  
“A prothean?!”  
“Agreement: My thoughts exactly. We are currently analysing tissue samples to get an exact date of death, but we are somewhat certain who we have found.”  
“There's only ever been one prothean who interacted with humans, Doctor Petyn. We've actually found the remains of the Hanar's messiah!”  
“Cautious: I would advise you not to be too hasty, captain. At the time of the Reaper Wars, it was not uncommon for other species to surgically mimic the appearance of protheans for personal gain. We must wait for the results to prove that his genetic make-up is indeed authentic.”  
“I suppose you're right, Doctor. What about the human, then?”  
“Reporting: Male, Caucasian. Appears to have several fractured bones throughout his body. It is unclear whether these were caused before or after death. The bodies have both been very well preserved.”  
“Broken bones? It can't be... Let me see them.”  
“Reserved: As you wish, Captain. However, I would ask you please not to touch the bodies. It may interfere with our study of them.”

Sullivan's suspicions had been correct. There was no mistaking them. His father had read him stories of the Normandy and its crew when he was a child, and these two appeared several times. Jeffrey Moreau and Javik the Enkindler. The stories said that after the Reapers were defeated, and once Commander Shepard regained her health, the Normandy crew continued their adventures for many years. But at one point, Moreau and Javik stopped appearing in the tales. Sullivan had always believed that his father was holding out stories, but when he went to study archaeology and history he found that no one actually knew what had become of them. Now even the Asari who had lived at the time were long gone, and very few of their children were still alive.  
The captain felt his heart sink. This was the greatest discovery he was ever going to make, the last prothean, two members of the legendary Normandy crew, both thousands of years old and perfectly preserved by the vacuum of space. And he couldn't keep them. Fulfilling his father's dream of honouring heroes in his museum had always been the most important goal in Sullivan's life, but he had no right to keep the Hanar's messiah from them. 

“Councillor Delad, thank you for receiving me.”  
“It is no matter, Captain Sullivan. You say you have made a relevant discovery to this one's people. Please explain.”  
“You might not believe me, but we believe we have found Javik the Enkindler.”  
“He is alive?”  
“No, Councillor. We found his body, along with his crewmate Jeffrey Moreau, floating out in a region of space which lack advanced life.”  
“This one sees.” The councillor looked as upset as a floating coelenterate could.  
“My crew's mission is to understand the lives of ancient heroes and honour their memories.”  
“A worthy cause, this one is sure.”  
“I would like to keep them as they are in a museum on the Citadel, but I understand how important Javik was to your people.”  
“This one shall discuss the matter with its people and the council. Thank you, Captain.”

A few weeks later, the T'Soni received a message from the council. They were allowed to keep the bodies on display, but the Hanar would maintain all rights to ownership of the body. This included ceremonies occasionally being held in the museum to honour him as the deity he had been in life.  
For months anthropologists and historians tried to understand how they had died. Eventually the most popular conclusion became commonly accepted in the archaeological community, and a plaque was written telling their story.

Javik the Enkindler and Jeffrey Moreau

Whilst serving under commander Shepard in the Reaper Wars, Javik formed close friendships with many of the crew. His dark sense of humour quickly made him popular aboard the ship: he has frequently been quoted as offering to throw people out the airlock. After many years ruling over Kahje, he returned to the stars to re-enkindle his loving relationship with helmsman Jeffrey Moreau aboard his ship. They flew together as lovers for several years. Tragically, under attack by pirates, the ship's systems malfunctioned. Their whole crew dead, and knowing the end was upon them, the pair embraced in the airlock The Enkindler had joked about for so many years, and ejected themselves with a final kiss. In Earth year 3970 they were rediscovered by captain Frederick Sullivan of the T'Soni RN-4, still embraced in that final kiss, radiating their eternal love throughout the galaxy.

Within a year of their discovery, Blasto Studios made a feature film chronicling their lives titled “Enkindled Love”. It was a huge success at the Kahje box office, but was panned by critics calling it “Absurd”, “Completely devoid of any believable characters” and “another generic, unrealistic romance, clearly written and directed by an obsessed fan with no interest in the truth.”


End file.
